Etching Complete

Finally my Sword has been etched. And what a learning process it was! I got the tool I needed, a battery charger from Harbor Freight in the mail and finally began work. I used a process called Electro Etching. Essentially, an electrolyte, in my case salt water, is used to conduct electricity from the batter charger and it removes uncovered steel. I put a sponge into the batter clip soaked in salt water and applied it to the metal.You can also use a regular battery but I didn’t want to run out of juice.

At first I pressed to hard and because I was using a float battery charger it turned off. I learned after doing one side that little pressure was necessary. The key was to listen for the electrical crackle sound that is made. Looking back at my first try, this took about two and a half hours of sitting patiently and moving my sponge around. For safety I wore rubber gloves and safety glasses. This process does output unhealthy fumes so make sure if you try it you are in a ventilated area.

Overall I was happy with the result. Photos do not do the etching justice at all. I also that that the water was going under my masking tape because I used too much of it in the beginning. I was quite surprised that the letter forms came out as well as they did. some of the inner shapes did not work out, probably because there was too much liquid in the beginning.